The Guardian: Heart Of Magic

The Journey

Shelrun found himself other than where he was sitting as Lyculn told him he would if he goes in trance. Shelrun saw himself in a house that looked like the house where he grew up but it looked more beautiful and arranged. He saw something he recognized from his childhood, a standing board his mother used to knit clothes. He leaned on the old boards. They felt thin and veined, frozen by a hundred winters, baked by a hundred summers. They smelled of dust and age. He could remember the moments his mother was using the board just by leaning on it. While leaning on it, he heard a voice from behind him, the voice sounded like a voice he had heard before, a familiar voice.

"Who are you and what are you looking for here?" the voice said. Shelrun then turned around to see who asked him that question because he felt he knew the person that owns the voice. When he turned around, the owner of the voice ended up to be someone he knew, it was Varma, his younger brother.

"Varma," Shelrun asked.

"Shelrun, what are you looking for here? Who told you where and how to find me?" Varma asked.

"You are not even happy to see me, I noticed you avoided me from the moment you became the head visioneer of Invaquam, why do you keep avoiding me brother," Shelrun asked.

"I had to avoid you so you would be safe, that was the only way I could assure you safety, father always wanted you to become a visioneer like he was but you discovered yourself and chose your own path which I respect a lot, but something you never knew was that father never abandoned us, he died trying to give us a good life," Varma said.

"What do you mean father did not abandon us?" Shelrun asked.

"Yes, he never did, he was killed by Croban because he defaulted to pay his debts, he borrowed some money from Croban when you were very ill, he was not ready to allow you die, father even opted to give me out to Croban as a repayment for his debts but Croban refused, you are the cause our father died, you were always his favorite child, he always did what he would never do for me for you," Varma said. Tears had already begun to pour out of Shelrun's eyes. He could not stand what his younger brother revealed to him.

"I wish I could see him once again, how come you knew all these and you kept it away from me, you even allowed me to go under Croban after it looked like father abandoned us," Shelrun said.

"Sure you can see him, you can how everything happened," Varma replied.

"I did not tell you because you would have looked for all means to kill Croban and you might not be able to achieve your dream, I always wanted you to fulfill your dream because it would have been the only way I would have become who I am today" Varma added.

Suddenly, the whole atmosphere began to change, the surroundings changed completely to somewhere else. Varma took Shelrun to where their father was killed, he wants him to see all that happened on that day their father was murdered. Shelrun was able to see the last hours of his father, he saw how his father was killed by Croban. After seeing everything, Shelrun sat on the ground with tears in his eyes. Some minutes passed, Shelrun had gotten himself back, he continued his discussion with his younger brother.

"There is nothing you can do again about father's death, tell me, how did you get here, who made this place known to you," Varma asked.

"I met a foreigner, he is from Culum Province, he taught me how to get to this place, he said I would communicate with the gods here, I was surprised to meet you here instead" Shelrun replied.

"What is this place, Varma, where am I," he asked.

"A foreigner, From Culum Province," Varma asked to be sure he heard what his brother said clearly.

"Yes, he is also a visioneer like us," Shelrun replied.

"This place is between life and death, the living and the dead communicate with each other well here, expect my visit, I will come to see you nd this foreigner brother," Varma said and faded completely.

Everywhere began to fade away in the eyes of Shelrun just like his brother just did. Suddenly, he regained consciousness, he was back to reality. Lyculn welcomed and congratulated him on bagging the feat on his second trial. Lyculn chose not to ask about Shelrun's experience of trance until he was settled. After about an hour, Shelrun had refreshed himself, he sat in front of Lyculn to discuss what he went through in trance even without Lyculn asking.

"It was not like I expected it to be, I did not meet the gods, you told me I would be able to communicate with the gods when I am in trance" Shelrun said.

"Wait, who did you see, I will explain everything to you," Lyculn asked.

"I saw Varma, my younger brother, the head visioneer of this province" Shelrun replied.

"What I forgot to tell you was that no one finds the gods, they know what you seek and the know how to reach you, they can give the answers you are looking for to someone very close to you or someone you know, if he decides to come himself, you might not live anymore," Lyculn said.

"My brother did not give me the chance to ask him anything, everywhere faded, my vision became very blurred and I returned here" Shelrun revealed.

"Reconciliation was key, you and your brother needed the reconciliation, whenever the mission or what you went in trance for is completed, you returned immediately," Lyculn said.

"How was it, seeing your brother after a very long time," he asked.

"Hmmm, it was very good, I told him about you, he said he would visit us soon" Shelrun revealed. Lyculn and Shelrun kept on discussing until the cry of baby Helena interrupted them.

Nine months since the birth of Helena had passed, Lyculn was allowing her to test out her crawling skills. No one needed to tell him again, he knows he has to be more vigilant in taking caring care of Helena so she would not injure herself while trying to crawl about. Each time Lyculn looked back to see what he has passed through with Helena while she was still younger, he praises himself for being a strong man, and also he is thankful to the gods for protecting baby Helena and himself from Idahali who has been looking to kill both of them at all costs.

Idahali has been relentless in his plans to capture and kill both his younger brother and the child that is called the golden child, who some visioneers foresees to be the one to end Idahali's evil dominance in the land. No one knows what Idahali has in mind because he has not been heard of in recent weeks, he has not called any chaos in any province aside from Dahacra which is dominated by him. Idahali's domain is the darkest and most troubled province currently in Stronas, her people live in fear with the mind that the soul-sucking maniac can count on them to empower himself at the expense of their lives.

Lyculn was having a wonderful day with Helena, Shelrun had resumed work as usual, till evening before he would be available at the house again. Shelrun had advised Lyculn to lock up the whole house in case he wants to sleep or he feels like strolling with his child. It was a measure to prevent them from being robbed, desperados have been working actively in Invaquam in recent weeks stealing people's valuables and properties. Some deaths have been recorded in the past few days because these desperados kill anyone who prevents them or tries to stop them from taking their valuables. Security measures have been put in place already but the question is that; are these security men and guards are not an accomplice of these desperados.

Lyculn began to lock everywhere the way Shelrun asked him to because he was feeling dizzy and baby Helena had begun to sleep gradually. When he was done locking everywhere, he fanned little Helena till she was fast asleep before he attempted to sleep. It was not up to five minutes before Lyculn slept off, he found himself in a cave, he kept on walking deeper inside the cave because he could see light ahead of him like the cave was leading to somewhere else. After a while, he got to the very bright light, he used his hands to block his vision because of how bright the light was. The cave became very wide and spacious, there were different types of weapons arranged on one side, it was like a hideout of soldiers during a war, where soldiers camp before or after ambushing their opponents. After looking around, seeing everything that was there, a portal opened in front of him, he made his way through the portal then it closed. He was on an open field, all he could see was grasses, the field was very wide that he could see nothing else, no trees were on the field, it just had low grasses springing up from the ground. Instantly, Lyculn heard a voice from above, the voice sounded as loud as the roar of a lion and it was echoing throughout the whole field.

"Lyculn! Lyculn!! Lyculn!!!" he heard the voice and began to look around for who was calling him.

"It is I that sent you on an errand to protect Helena till she discovers who she really is, evil is close to your doorstep, rise and take the child to a land where I shall show you"

"On the course of the journey, I shall be your light and your guard, look above and follow the brightest star, it will lead you to somewhere safe"

Immediately, Lyculn woke up from his sleep, he was already soaked in his sweat, baby Helena was crying seriously because the heat inside the house was too much, she was also sweating profusely. Lyculn instantly jumped up from where he was lying and began to open all the windows. After that, he cleaned Helena's sweat with a towel and began to blow gentle wind on her with a sheet of paper. When Helena was okay, he then pick up a sheet of paper and ink to write an appreciation message for Shelrun before he leaves with Helena. When he was done drafting the message, he changed Helena's sweat-soaked clothes. He then packed all their belongings inside his backpack. They departed Shelruns house and began to journey towards the gate of the Kingdom on foot. All Lyculn had in mind was that they are going to travel outside Invaquam. When it was evening, Shelrun got back home, he checked every, he could not find Lyculn or his child, he noticed that they were gone.